Since I’ve started keeping a garden journal and writing down the dates of our area’s frosts and snow days, I’ve noticed that for the past few years we’ve always gotten our first winter’s snow in mid to late February. Yesterday we got our second decent snow, a mere 4″ but enough to cover our driveway and weigh down the trees. Here is the view from the top of our driveway looking down. At the bottom of this hill, the drive curves to the left, then takes a sharp right to go across a wooden bridge and up a steep hill to bring us to the top of our road.

It doesn’t take much snow to trap us at home. Our driveway being so steep can be very difficult to escape, even with a 4-wheel drive vehicle. Most of the gravel road is shaded and remains pure ice long after the main roads, which have been salted, are safe to travel again. It makes me grateful that we have provisions stored away just in case we can’t get out for several days.

The ideal off-grid home will have hard flooring throughout. Unfortunately for us, we’ll likely be stuck with carpet for a few more years. Here’s how we plan on keeping our floors clean, even without electricity to run a vacuum.

Homemade chicken stock or broth is extremely good for you. Once you’ve learned how to make it, the next step is learning how to can it so your pantry never runs out! Here’s a step-by-step tutorial to show you just how easy it is.